Don't Dump It-Donate It!
(Written by Andy Nash for inside the FORUM March 10th, 2013.)
This past summer I assisted a friend in rebuilding his
deck, for which he rented a dumpster to haul away the waste to the landfill,
which got me interested in just how much of this stuff is going to landfills,
and whether there was another option.
The Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality classifies this type of waste as C&D;
Construction and Demolition Waste, and also reports that C&D accounts for
10% of all waste in landfills; waste that never has to make it the landfill in
the first place because it can be recycled.
The Habitat for Humanity Restore [http://www.h4h.org/restore/; (734)
822-1530] accepts donations of these C&D materials, as well as home goods,
furniture, and appliances. ReStores
provide an environmentally and socially-responsible way to keep good, reusable
materials out of landfills. You can
simply drop off your items at our ReStore Warehouse location, at
It's not only C&D waste, but appliances and furniture
that are put into landfills unnecessarily.
There are multiple thrift shops in the area such as the Salvation Army
[1621 South State Street, Ann Arbor; (734) 332-3474] and the St. Vincent DePaul
Store [1001 Broadway, Ann Arbor (734) 761-1400] that accept all manner of home
and personal goods, many of whom offer pick-up from your home. In addition to re-sale, the local agency
Friends in Deed [1196 Ecorse Rd., Ypsilanti; http://www.friendsindeed.info/;
(734) 484-2727] accepts furniture, appliances, and beds and bedding to be
donated back to those in need in our community, so even those without the means
to purchase furniture, even from a thrift shop can have their needs met. Friends in Deed offers pick-up of donated
items from your home, as well as delivery to clients who have no access to a
vehicle or the physical ability to pick-up items on their own. As a long time volunteer and board member I
have seen the difference the delivery of just a few items that would have otherwise
been thrown away makes in the life of someone in need.
In addition to helping the environment and helping others
in the community, recycling also provides much needed jobs. According to the Michigan Recycling Coalition
10,000 tons of waste if simply put into a landfill creates one job, whereas
recycling this same waste creates 10 jobs.
So in conclusion, the recycling of these C&D materials as well as
household items is good for the environment, good for others who are less
fortunate, and good for the greater economy as a whole. Not to mention your personal economy because
donations are tax deductible! So don't
dump it- donate it!
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